Rédaction Africa Links 24 with Souleymane Gano
Published on 2024-02-27 13:35:03
The national dialogue works resumed at the Abdou Diouf International Conference Center (CICAD) in Diamniadio, a commune in the Rufisque department, as observed by the APS on February 27. The second day of the national dialogue, initiated on Monday in the presence of the President, Macky Sall, saw the commissions established for this purpose start their work behind closed doors. The members of these commissions are working on proposing a new date for the presidential election, which was initially scheduled for February 25, but has been postponed. They are also discussing the next steps in the electoral process and what will happen after April 2, the end of the current president’s mandate.
One commission, led by Interior Minister Sidiki Kaba, is tasked with determining the election date. Another commission, led by Foreign Affairs Minister Ismaila Madior Fall (acting on behalf of the Justice Minister), is focusing on the continuation of the electoral process after April 2. Religious leaders, representatives of trade unions, civil society organizations, and presidential candidates who were disqualified from the election have responded to the President’s call for dialogue in order to find a solution to the political crisis that arose after the postponement of the presidential election.
Participants in the dialogue include members of the Senegalese Democratic Party (PDS), the political party that raised allegations against some members of the Constitutional Council who evaluated the candidates’ eligibility for the presidential election. The accusations were made after the candidacy of the PDS leader, Karim Wade, was rejected due to his dual Senegalese and French nationality.
Prime Minister Amadou Bâ, a candidate of the Benno Bokk Yaakaar coalition (majority), disqualified candidates, and other political actors also attended the meeting at the Diamniadio Conference Center. Sixteen out of the nineteen candidates approved by the Constitutional Council have decided not to participate in the dialogue, as have many civil society groups. This decision reflects the ongoing political crisis in the country since the announcement of the election postponement, which was meant to determine President Macky Sall’s successor.
The President called for this consultation as a step towards setting a new date for the presidential election. On February 16, he committed to fully implementing a Constitutional Council decision urging the competent authorities to set a new election date after it was deemed impossible to hold it on February 25 as planned. The Council also deemed a parliamentary law postponing the election to December 15 as unconstitutional.
President Sall’s decision to annul the election decree on February 3 was based on suspicions of corruption among the magistrates who assessed the 93 candidacy files, approving 20 of them. Addressing the nation, the President expressed the need for an open national dialogue to ensure a free, transparent, and inclusive election in a peaceful Senegal.
Allegations of corruption were raised by PDS parliamentary members, prompting an investigation into the claims. The investigation, however, was halted after a judicial inquiry was initiated. Four individuals lost their lives in the protests against the election postponement, with violence erupting in Dakar, Saint-Louis, and Ziguinchor during clashes between protesters and security forces.
These events were followed by the release of activists and political militants who had been arrested for their political activities.
Read the original article(French) on Senegalese Press Agency
